Despite declining US adolescent smoking prevalence from 40% among 12th graders in 1995 to around 10% in 2018, adolescent smoking is still a significant problem. Using the International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) Consortium, which includes 7 international cohorts recruited in childhood and followed into adulthood, the present study was designed to confirm the important relation between adolescent smoking and daily adult smoking and present new data on adult smoking into the forties and comparison of smoking in the United States, Finland, and Australia.

Objective To describe the number and proportion of accredited, degree-granting institutions with 100% smoke-free and 100% tobacco-free protections across the USA and by state.

Methods Data on postsecondary education institutions from the US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 2015, and smoke-free and tobacco-free campus protections from the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation’s Smokefree and Tobacco-Free Colleges and Universities List 2017, were integrated to calculate the number and proportion of: (1) smoke-free and tobacco-free accredited, degree-granting institutions and (2) students and staff protected by campus policies and state laws. Campus protections are given a 100% smoke-free designation if smoking is not allowed on campus anywhere, at any time; 100% tobacco-free designations extend smoke-free protections to include non-combustible products such as smokeless tobacco.

Results 823 accredited, degree-granting institutions (16.7%) representing 1816 individual campuses, sites and schools have either 100% smoke-free or 100% tobacco-free protections. An estimated 14.9 million college students (26.9%) and 8.9 million faculty and staff (25.4%) are protected by campus policies and state laws. Only three states and two territories have 100% smoke-free or 100% tobacco-free protections in over half of their institutions; four states and six territories have no known 100% smoke-free or 100% tobacco-free campus protections.

Conclusions In 2017, just 16.7% of accredited, degree-granting institutions in the USA had 100% smoke-free or 100% tobacco-free protections. Despite progress, more efforts can ensure that students and staff benefit from comprehensive 100% smoke-free and 100% tobacco-free protections at US colleges and universities.

A rapid increase in the prevalence of vaping among adolescents has aroused public health concern. Adolescents who “vape” use a device such as an electronic cigarette to inhale a heated aerosol, which typically contains nicotine. In 2017, vaping was the most common use of any tobacco-like product among adolescents.1 This is a rapid rise from a near-zero prevalence of vaping in 2011.2 We assessed whether the prevalence of nicotine vaping increased among adolescents from 2017 to 2018.

Each year in the United States, cigarette smoking causes an estimated 480,000 deaths, including approximately 41,000 deaths from secondhand smoke exposure among nonsmoking adults. Smoke-free policies protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure, reduce the social acceptability of smoking, help in preventing youth and young adult smoking initiation, and increase smokers’ efforts to quit smoking. Given that 99% of adult cigarette smokers first start smoking before age 26 years and many smokers transition to regular, daily use during young adulthood, colleges and universities represent an important venue for protecting students, faculty, staff members, and guests from secondhand smoke exposure through tobacco control policies

2017

The first goal of this study was to identify the most appropriate measure of cigarette smoking for identifying unique smoking trajectories among adolescents; the second goal was to describe the resulting trajectories and their characteristics.

Tobacco-induced disease remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, with minorities bearing a disproportionate burden of the disease burden. Because 80% of adult smokers begin smoking before age 18, tobacco control efforts often focus on preventing adolescents from smoking their first cigarette. However, only one-third of youth who experiment with cigarettes ever become regular smokers. As a result, these programs miss a key opportunity to prevent the transition from experimentation to established smoking, which may occur in the mid-to-late 20s. In combination with growing recognition that young adulthood (ages 18 to 25) is a critical period of vulnerability, particularly due to significant life changes such as starting college, separating smokers into different trajectories (patterns of smoking) and identifying when escalation and de-escalation occurs can inform efforts to prevent transition to regular smoking.

2013

Background Indoor and outdoor tobacco-free campus policies for schools, hospitals and universities are increasingly being adopted. Yet, little direct evidence exists on the impact of tobacco-free campuses on tobacco outcomes.

Objectives To identify differences in cigarettes smoked at main campus building entrances by campus policy strength.

Methods Researchers collected cigarette butts (n=3427) at main building entrances (n=67) at baseline and follow-up on 19 community college campuses stratified by strength of campus outdoor tobacco policy (none, perimeter/designated area, 100% tobacco free). Outcome measures included the number of butts per day at building entrances averaged to create a campus score. Analysis of variance techniques examined differences in scores by the strength of campuses' outdoor tobacco policy.

Results One hundred per cent tobacco-free community college campuses had significantly fewer cigarette butts at doors than campuses with no outdoor restrictions. Butts on community college campuses with partial policies were not statistically different from campuses with no policy or campuses with a 100% tobacco-free policy but indicated that a dose–response relationship may exist.

Conclusions This study provides some of the first evidence on the impact of 100% tobacco-free outdoor policies on college campuses using an objective and reproducible measure. Such policies likely provide a more healthful environment for students, staff, faculty and visitors.

2012

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable and premature death, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year. Cigarette smoking costs the nation $96 billion in direct medical costs and $97 billion in lost productivity annually. In addition to the billions in medical costs and lost productivity, tobacco is enacting a heavy toll on young people.

Each day in the United States, over 3,800 young people under 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette, and over 1,000 youth under age 18 become daily cigarette smokers. The vast majority of Americans who begin daily smoking during adolescence are addicted to nicotine by young adulthood. Despite the well-known health risks, youth and adult smoking rates that had been dropping for many years have stalled. When this Administration took office, we decided that if these numbers were not changing, we had to do something. We accelerated our efforts to fight tobacco by helping Americans stop smoking and protecting young people from starting to smoke.

2011

The American College Health Association (ACHA) acknowledges and supports the findings of the Surgeon General that tobacco use in any form, active and/or passive, is a significant health hazard...ACHA joins with other professional health associations in promoting tobacco-free environments.

2009

Higher education needs to give more broad-based attention to health and wellness. Our graduates will all have to deal with the facts that the general state of health of Americans is not good and our national health care system is badly in need of reform. We should offer innovative approaches to helping our graduates establish positive, lifetime health habits and we should demonstrate to them our own model approaches to promoting health and wellness through more effective health insurance and worksite wellness programs.